President Donald Trump has been adamant about keeping his tax returns hidden even though House Democrats are demanding them. However, if and when Democrats get their hands on Trump's taxes they will face legal and ethical issues.
"Lawmakers are concerned that, even if they get the president’s filings, his returns will still be protected by strict confidentiality laws — it is a felony, punishable by up to five years, to improperly disclose private tax information," the report states.
Even with this concern, Democrats will still move to make Trump's taxes public even if it takes months.
"There are ways around the dilemma, and Democrats intend to make at least some information about Trump’s taxes public — that is much of the point of their entire effort."
“We’re going to have to be circumspect in terms of the way we handle this,” Rep. John Larson (D-CT) said.
House Ways and Means Chairman Richard Neal (D-MA) gave the administration until April 10th to turnover six years of Trump's taxes. Trump's lawyers responded by saying that they will fight the demand in court.
"Even if Trump’s returns are handed over, they will still be protected by privacy laws. Making them public will be a separate matter. Experts say lawmakers can do that by essentially having the Ways and Means Committee vote in a closed session to release them," the report said.
“There is a need for a thorough review of them to see if there’s anything in them that justifies releasing them and that’s something that could take a while to do because they are, according to the president, very complex. I hope it’s not months, but I don’t think it will be days," Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-TX) said.
Read the full report here.
